Overly easy to steal cargo from transport networks

May 24, 2011

Each year, billions of euros worth of goods are being stolen from European transport networks. A discouraged transport and logistics sector has more or less chosen to tolerate the problem. But there are solutions, according to Dr Luca Urciuoli, researcher in Engineering Logistics at Lund University, Sweden, who recently published a PhD thesis on the subject.

Luca Urciuoli's research shows that many haulage companies do not make any security investments at all, even though it is fairly easy to find security measures such as theft-proof doors or windows, truck alarms, track and trace systems and mechanical locks on the market.

"In Sweden, criminals often have time to attack cargo when the driver leaves the lorry for lunch, or while he is sleeping in the cab or delivering the goods to the customer", says Luca Urciuoli, who adds that cargo theft is a growing problem in Europe.

Luca Urciuoli's explanation as to why Swedish transport companies are doing so little to enhance security is that they often do not find it worthwhile to tackle such a problem.

Today, companies rarely bother to report thefts to the police, arguing that "they won't do anything anyway...". Neither are they reporting the problem to the insurance companies because this would lead to their premiums and excesses being raised.

But Luca Urciuoli's survey study shows that it pays to address this problem. The few Swedish carriers who are actually investing in better security, establishing closer collaboration with the police and exploiting special contract agreements in which security is emphasised, are also subject to less security incidents.

Luca Urciuoli was also able to observe that these companies were less scared by the opportunistic behaviour of criminals and trusted the courts of justice and police to apprehend and correctly prosecute cargo thieves. In addition, these companies were able to negotiate more advantageous premium discounts with the insurance companies.

"Training and implementation of security measures are essential to enhance security in transportation. In addition, national governments could help to improve the situation. For instance, fiscal measures, recommendations, training and education could be tools to stimulate the enhancement of security", says Luca Urciuoli.

According to Prof. Sten Wandel, Luca Urciuoli's supervisor, many transport companies need external help to perform security analyses. This is especially true for small and medium-sized companies which today dominate the transport market. It is also important to subsidise and build more secure parking places in Europe.

(PhysOrg.com) -- Two British companies have worked out a way of helping dealers such as scrap and pawn dealers identify that objects brought to them have been stolen, and from whom, so they can then inform ...

Network security is evolving from a "pinpoint" system of attacking isolated threats to a large-scale "holistic" approach to security, said John Chambers, CEO of Cisco Systems, at the 2006 RSA Conference.

According to the Department of Trade and Industry there are 4.5 million businesses in the UK of which 99.3% are small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs), employing 0-49 employees. These comprise 58.9% of the total workforce ...

(PhysOrg.com) -- Our flawed approach to cyber security needs a dramatic overhaul -- and courts should lead the way to reform, argues Edward Imwinkelried, a professor of law at the University of California, Davis, and one ...

Web 2.0 can help companies located in the same region share haulage space when transporting consignments. Pooling benefits the environment, reduces CO2 output and saves costs -- experts put the figure at around 15 percent.

Recommended for you

Imagine a scenario where tens of thousands of drones are routinely flown across UK airspace. Some of these are very large, more than 100kg – and some are equipped with jet engines that can reach speeds ...

What if you could wear something that would alert you when pollution, such as smog, is about to take its toll on your heart or lungs? That is what's "in the air" at the National Science Foundation- (NSF) ...

Within the next five to ten years, around 100 billion different devices will be online. A large part of the communication takes place solely between machines, and to ensure that they can communicate, the ...

User comments : 0

Please sign in to add a comment.
Registration is free, and takes less than a minute.
Read more

Click here to reset your password.
Sign in to get notified via email when new comments are made.